


Falling by Firelight

by caffeinatedmusing



Series: The Care and Feeding of Vampires [1]
Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Drinking & Talking, First Time, Friends to Lovers, Humor, M/M, Outdoor Sex, Sleepy Cuddles, Vampires, blood and wine dlc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-08 20:25:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11089275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caffeinatedmusing/pseuds/caffeinatedmusing
Summary: Regis wonders if he's reading Geralt right. And if opposites attract, then a witcher and a vampire ought to have quite the future together.





	Falling by Firelight

The fire crackled, sparks swirling up into the star strewn darkness above them. Regis sipped his mandrake cordial from the fire-warmed tin mug cradled between his hands. The weather had held; cool breezes drifted down from the thicket of woodland surrounding the old cemetery behind them to form a soft layer of fog along the river. The soothing sound of waves lapping the bank. Crickets chirping. The fragrance of grass, bruised from where they had walked around while getting the fire set up, murky river water, warm mandrake brew, and wood smoke. A perfect night for a beach side campfire. 

Across from the flames, Geralt was sitting and swirling his cordial, quiet, as if waiting for the liquid to offer up a new topic for conversation. 

Regis was waiting, too. 

He had tried to leave openings in their conversations as they had worked together. Hints. Things that could be taken as flirtatious or not. Any other vampire would have picked up on it and the lack of response would have been as polite a rejection as he could have hoped to receive. Except, he wasn’t dealing with another vampire. Humans might have some different customs; he could have easily researched. Except, he wasn’t dealing with a human, not precisely. He had almost asked Dandelion, only to recall in time that whatever the bard knew was soon known to everyone else within earshot. That wouldn’t do.

If Geralt had one weakness, it was social cues. As perceptive as he could be, sometimes they just went over his head. Sometimes he ignored them. Except, there had been that kiss. Regis could nearly still feel his lips tingling. And what had caused _that_ , anyway? But the witcher had not brought it up, hadn’t mentioned a thing since.

Regis was unsure of how to proceed. He shifted on the cold rock serving as his chair and considered his remaining options. One, stay quiet. Go his own way and leave nothing to change. That was the safest route. Cowardly, even. Two, continue the way he had been, hinting and waiting. Wondering if he was being ignored on purpose or because Geralt didn’t understand his intent. That didn’t offer much hope for resolution, if present circumstances were any indicator, but again, the risk was minimal. Third, make a bold move. Something that couldn’t be ignored or misunderstood. Something that demanded an answer. No more waiting, no more doubt. The risks? High. Personal humiliation. Loss of trust. Ruined friendship. A witcher who no longer thought well of him.

_Nothing is forbidden._

Vampires taught their children that. Experimentation was encouraged; finding ones own path, paramount. Lessons in life were taught first with words; for those who didn’t believe or failed to listen, those lessons came to them again through the bumps and bruises, broken bones and wounded hearts. _And sometimes through the occasional decapitation_. Regis was tired of healing.

He continued sipping his drink while he warred with himself. Only to glance up at the sound of a log collapsing on the fire. Across the way, Geralt was watching him, yellow eyes reflecting the glow of the coals with an eerie sheen. Something in that gaze. _Nothing is forbidden._

_I am very tired and fuck it all._

“Geralt? Why did you kiss me?”

An expression flashed across the witcher’s face. Awkward. Vulnerable. Then he shook himself, cleared his throat to explain, and it was gone.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have.”

“Did I say that? And you haven’t answered the question.”

“Seemed like the thing to do, at the time.” Geralt haltingly explained. About loss and self-loathing and loneliness. About dread. About not daring to hope. 

By the time he had finished speaking, Regis had moved next to him, hands reaching out to catch his face, kissing him back.

When it ended, the vampire touched his fingers to his own lips, a question in his eyes. “What is that tingling?”

“…It’s, ah, a witcher thing. I can’t control it or anything, it just is. My skin, too. Some people like it. Some don’t.”

“It’s quite fascinating. I feel as if my mouth should be going numb, only it isn’t.”

He caught Geralt and kissed him again, deeply this time. Hands began to roam. At some point they lost their balance on the uneven surface of the boulder and toppled, tumbling and rolling, to the ground in front of the fire. It barely passed their notice. Working to get eachother’s clothes off. The friction and press of bodies had only increased their wanting. 

Locked in another kiss, legs tangled up, Geralt’s hands sliding over his back, Regis felt something sharp against his tongue. With another vampire, a bit of fang was normal. But what was….he slid his tongue over the spot again, curious. _Couldn’t be. Could it?_

He had never seen Geralt smile. Not really. That little tug upwards at one corner of his mouth. The warmth in his eyes. But never anything that _showed his teeth_. He had the witcher’s chin in his hands then, thumbs sliding over Geralt’s lips, trying to lift them.

“Regis, what are you…?”

“Shhh, let me see them.”

A defeated sigh, and Geralt opened his mouth, upper lip pulled back enough to reveal what Regis had discovered. _Fangs._ Not really, not proper ones. But he couldn’t think of what else to call them. Geralt’s canine teeth where longer, thicker, and more pointed than anything a human could have managed, even by use of caps or filing. He slipped his thumb into the witcher’s mouth, rubbing over the shape of one, testing its point against the pad. 

“Why have you been hiding these?” He nipped at the witcher’s chin, letting his own fangs scrape a bit, careful not to break the skin.

“For the same reason you do. Scares folk. Are you done?” Geralt sighed and rolled his eyes a bit, words mumbled around the thumb he’d caught gently in those teeth.

“I think they’re perfect.” Regis breathed, almost nose to nose.

The next kiss, he kept licking at the tips of them, mouthing at the edges of Geralts lips, pressing into the kiss, wanting to feel the scrape of them against his lips, until the witcher was laughing beneath him.

“You have got to be joking. A vampire with a fang kink? That has to be the most… cliched…no, I don’t even know what that is.” He broke off with a groan as Regis ground against him, moving to pin his wrists.

“Now, now, Geralt. No mocking me or I’ll stop and make you sit in the corner.”

The look of disbelief, humor, and outrage that warred for a moment on the witchers face had Regis grinning until he lost sight of it on his way down to tug the pants off Geralts hips. 

They stopped talking for some time after that. Or, more precisely, they stopped being coherent enough to use words. Gasps, groans, and cries of passion where all the conversation they needed.

Afterwards, when the fire had burned down to coal and ash and they lay side by side, flopped on their backs in the grass, letting sweat slick skin cool in the chill evening air, Regis tried to gather enough mental acuity back to himself in the wake of it all. 

“…Well…that was…rather…spectacular.” 

“Hm mm. Should do it again sometime.”

“Mm.”

Eventually, being naked outdoors lost most of its appeal. They dove into the cool water to wash off. With neither needing much in the way of light or air, night swimming held little risk; the river was an inviting velvet ribbon of reflected moonlight, nearly smooth as glass, save for the occasional ripples spreading out to mark where fish had jumped. 

Barefoot and bare chested, water dripping from the ends of their hair, coursing over shoulders and down backs, and carrying the rest of their clothes, they hiked back to Regis’ mausoleum home. The fire had long since gone out. The sky was beginning to lighten and it wouldn’t be much longer before the fishing boats came out. Regis wasn’t much for the sun, in any case, given the option to avoid it.

They crawled into bed, curled close together beneath the thin wool blanket on Regis’ narrow cot. He drifted to the sound of Geralt’s breathing, fingers tracing idly over thick ridges of old scars. Was this closeness, connectedness, what it felt like to have a packmate? He chided himself inwardly. _A witcher as the first and only pack I’ve ever attempted …?_ Well, and Dettlaff, but blood kin went beyond the bonds of pack, so he was more. 

Geralt was more, too, but different. _Love._ It had been so long since he had felt it. He nuzzled into the witchers damp hair, relishing the scents of river and fresh air, the faint bite of woodsmoke. An arm tightened around his waist. He recognized the truth of it. Would anyone else? 

_Nothing is forbidden._

As he fell asleep, he determined that he rest of his kind would just have to deal with his choice. 

This witcher was his.

**Author's Note:**

> Plotwise, this follows Resuscitate. But that's kind of its own thing (why its not in this series), I based it off my 1st playthru where I got all. the. worst. endings. (Poor Geralt) Think of it as kind of an angsty au tidbit unto itself. But I wont be continuing from that specifically.
> 
> My 2nd playthru, I cheated and searched various sites to make sure I knew which options to try for a better end. Anyway, Care and Feeding of Vampires is set in that happier version where Ciri is alive and Dettlaff is too and both Geralt and Regis are way more stable emotionally. And thats why this one goes in with the rest even though it references the events of Resuscitate. Hope that clears up any confusion.
> 
> It was fun to write them being goofy and teasing eachother. Regis being fascinated by anything and everything witcher related- with his alchemical and medical background, he'd have serious questions, Geralt being resigned but also amused. As for Geralt having sharp teeth? I remembered some promotional art from the 1st game that depicted this. http://tech.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/images/2008/dec/img_102231_w2_2007_en_1024x768.jpg  
> (thanks to asparrowsfall for finding this link) Hope you enjoyed it too and thanks for reading.


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